Draperies are normally composed of one or more layers of textile fabrics. A lined drapery usually is composed of a high quality fabric with an incorporated design, and a lining which is a less expensive plain fabric. The lining protects the expensive fabric from sunlight exposure, improves the heat insulating properties of the drapery, and contributes additional weight which improves the hang properties of the drapery.
Because lined draperies are much more expensive than the unlined varieties, recently it has been proposed to achieve the advantages of a lining by coating the back of drapery fabric with a layer of synthetic polymer to provide a laminated fabric. However, many of the synthetic polymers employed for this purpose have not been satisfactory since the resultant laminated fabric has been deficient in one or more of light-fastness, abrasion resistance, good hand and dry-clean characteristics.
By and large these deficiencies have been moderated or eliminated by the more recent development of crushed foam-backed textile fabrics. This new type of laminated fabric is lightweight, opaque, color-fast, and exhibits good thermal and acoustical insulating properties for purposes of drapery applications.
One of the most serious difficulties encountered when backcoating textile fabrics is the striking through the interstices of open weave fabrics by a fluid polymeric medium during the coating application stage. A fabric is unacceptable if there is visible evidence of a heavy penetration of backcoat polymeric medium to the front surface of the fabric. As one alternative, casement fabric presently is being laminated to a sheet of non-woven fabric with a fusible adhesive, rather than being backcoated with a fluid polymeric medium. This alternative method has the disadvantage of being cost intensive.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an economical method of backcoating open weave textile fabric without strike-through penetration of fluid polymeric medium to the fact of the fabric.
It is another object of this invention to provide backcoated casement fabric which exhibits excellent properties for drapery applications.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the accompanying description and example.